Seismology
by canadianiana
Summary: From a an M&M ficcy Friday prompt from tashagodzilla, in which Jeff and Annie get trapped in an earthquake  reposting because my  account was having issues!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Tremors**

**JEFF**

"Annie?" Jeff calls as he steps off the elevator into the dim basement.

"Over here!"

Jeff follows her voice and weaves his way through the overcrowded rows of storage. Pierce's basement is ridiculously huge, which he supposes makes sense for a mansion. But with the randomness of the items shoved into, on top of, and in between the tall metal shelves, Jeff can't help but feel like he's in the vault of a museum. Surrounded by artifacts of Pierce's previous identities.

He stubs his toe against an unseen box on the floor and curses Pierce.

"You okay?" she calls, sounding slightly closer now.

"Yeah. But rich guys like Pierce should not also be pack rats."

"Seriously though. There is an actual kitchen sink down here."

In a single row, Jeff passes by something that looks like a treasure chest, a set of scuba gear, a cello, a stone gargoyle, and a rusty pinball machine. The higher shelves hold mostly unmarked boxes. "This place is like the Room of Requirement."

"Yeah, but it has everything EXCEPT the one thing you need. It's the Room of Inconvenience."

Jeff chuckles (and is a little relieved she didn't call him out on his nerdy reference), as he rounds a corner. He finally sees her, about ten feet down at the end of the row, surrounded by dusty boxes. "Can't find the lights?" he asks her.

She sighs, causing a small poof of dust to cloud in front of her. "No. Have I been gone a while?"

He shrugs as he slowly makes his way toward her, stepping around the piles of boxes and other random crap. "Not really, but this was a good excuse to avoid helping Shirley."

"You're gonna regret it, this is a pain."

Annie drops a box in front of her, then stands and stretches, arching her back. Jeff feels his pulse quicken as she then removes her cardigan (revealing only a tank top underneath), and pulls her hair up into a messy bun. She makes eye contact with him and smiles, and he realizes he's staring. Suddenly feeling the need to keep his distance, he turns to the shelf in front of him and clears his throat. "Want me to look down here?"

Before Annie can answer though, Jeff hears a weird noise. Like a... rattling. He turns to look at Annie, who's looking back at him, equally confused. The rattling gets steadily louder until Jeff sees that everything in front of him is shaking. He can't even process what's happening; he has to get to Annie. He starts making his way toward her, but the ground is unsteady beneath his feet now and things are starting to fall off the shelves. The rattling grows to a deafening volume. He shields his face with his arms as boxes and books rain down on him. He can barely see Annie through the falling debris, doing the same.

They reach each other and Jeff desperately grabs for her. Just as his arms wrap around her, though, she shoves him in the chest - hard. Jeff stumbles and falls back and hears Annie cry out just as an eight-foot-tall grandfather clock crashes down between them. Jeff scrambles to his hands and knees, but he's lost sight of her.

The room has turned into complete chaos.

Frantically crawling to get back where he was, Jeff suddenly hears a sickening creak next to him, and looks up just in time to see the shelf lurch. With nowhere to go, he instinctively dives to the ground, his arms over his head.

There's a cascade of thunderous cracks, and Jeff's world is thrown into darkness.

_Oh god, Annie, I have to get to Annie..._

Then, as suddenly as it began, the world stops shaking.

Jeff inhales, meaning to call out to her, but gets a mouth full of dust instead. He hacks and coughs, trying not to panic, straining to hear any signs of her.

_She's fine. She has to be fine. I just have to get to her._

Jeff squirms, realizing that his right wrist is pinned between the back of his head and the fallen shelf. He manages to get his left free, though, and starts shoving at the boxes and debris around him, desperate to find one that will budge. "Annie?" he yells out, and stops moving to listen.

Nothing.

He shoves harder at the things around him, a little wildly, until gets enough traction to push a box away from his face. Jeff ignores the pain that comes with moving as he shifts along the ground, freeing his right hand. Pushing the box in front of him with one hand, Jeff pulls himself on his stomach with the other, inch by agonizing inch. Finally, he thinks he's emerged from underneath the shelf, but the whole room is pitch black.

"Annie!"

Still nothing.

Jeff can feel his panic on the brink, threatening to take over. He groans as he sits up, and finds his phone in his pocket, turning it on as a flashlight. He sees the destroyed grandfather clock on the ground next to him, having fallen in the gap between two shelves. He shines the light on the other side, where Annie should be, but there's only boxes. He drops his phone as he climbs over the fallen clock and digs, frantically, throwing lighter things over his shoulder and shoving away the heavier ones.

He finds a fallen shelf underneath the rubble, leaning on the fallen shelf next to it, and prays that Annie wasn't...

There's a horrible sucking, gasping sound.

One more box gone, and he finds her hand. He clutches it tightly in his, and feels dizzy with relief when she squeezes back. He pulls her, gently, moving more things out of the way with his other hand. When her panic-ridden face finally appears in the faint light, Jeff's heart wrenches to see her struggling to breathe. He keeps pulling until she collapses against him, and then wraps his long limbs around her.

"It's okay," he lies as she gasps and gulps into his chest. He cradles the back of her head with his right hand, and he's vaguely aware that it's hard to move his wrist. "You just have to breathe. We're okay."

Annie digs her nails into him, and for a second, he has an alarming thought that the ground is shaking again. But he realizes that it's just them, shivering as they cling to each other. It does make him worry about the possibility of an aftershock, though, so he lets go of Annie with one hand long enough to grasp for his phone. He aims it around and the dim light falls on what appears to be a solid-looking oak desk against the wall behind them. There's just enough space between its drawers for them to fit.

With a great amount of effort, Jeff scrambles backward to it, keeping Annie securely held in his lap. Hastily and awkwardly pushing more boxes out of the way, he manages to get them under the desk, and hopes that it won't be necessary.

His thought was prescient, though, because as soon as they pull their feet in, an aftershock hits, hard.

Jeff buries his face in Annie's neck and holds onto her for dear life.

**ANNIE**

Annie is seriously regretting her decision. She can't help but think that helping Shirley bake might have been better - that ANYTHING would have been better - than digging around Pierce's ridiculous excuse for a storage area. It's like a warehouse. She sighs. It's true that she really does want to find the Christmas lights, but that wasn't her main reason for coming down here. Shirley had been talking about her mom, and all the fun things they'd been doing on her visit. And she loves Shirley, but Annie was finding it hard to keep smiling while her thoughts kept drifting to her own (not so pleasant) mother.

So she'd asked Pierce if he had any lights to decorate for their multi-denominational holiday gathering, and set off for the elevator to the basement. Only Pierce would have an elevator that only has two stops.

And now here she is, covered in dust, starting to sweat, no closer to finding the lights than she was when she'd started. She stands on her toes and carefully extracts a box from a shelf just above her head.

"Annie?"

She's so surprised to hear Jeff's voice that she almost drops the box. Annie manages to brace it on her knee before calling back. "Over here!"

She can hear movement a little ways away from her, then a THUD, and: "Ah, goddamn it, Pierce!"

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he calls back, his voice a little louder now. "But rich guys like Pierce should not also be pack rats."

"Seriously though. There is an actual kitchen sink down here."

She can't see him yet, but she can hear him getting closer. "This place is like the Room of Requirement," he says.

Annie smiles. _Did he just make a Harry Potter reference?_ "Yeah, but it has everything EXCEPT the one thing you need. It's the Room of Inconvenience."

Jeff appears, also smiling, around the end of the next shelf over from her. "Can't find the lights?"

Annie sighs and then scrunches up her face as it sends a cloud of dust airborne. "No. Have I been gone a while?"

Jeff shrugs. "Not really." He starts carefully placing his feet as he walks toward her. "But this was a good excuse to avoid helping Shirley."

She gives him a look. "You're gonna regret it, this is a pain." She's still bracing the box on her knee, so she lets it fall, a little hastily, to the ground in front of her. Her back aches, and she stretches, reaching her arms behind her. Annie suddenly feels gross, and strips down to her tank top. She's still hot, though, so she pulls an elastic off her wrist and ties up her hair in what she's sure is a messy bun.

Only now does she look up and see Jeff, stopped several feet away, looking right at her with slightly wide eyes. Annie flushes, but it's kind of dark in the basement, so he probably can't tell. Feeling slightly emboldened that he might have been checking her out, she smiles at him.

Jeff turns suddenly to the items in front of him. "Want me to look down here?"

Annie's smile widens a bit; it's cute when Jeff is flustered. She's trying to think of way to respond when she hears a weird noise. A weird... clattering noise. Jeff looks up at her, but clearly has no idea what it is, either. It starts getting worse, and louder, and then everything is shaking along with it. Annie has two thoughts in rapid succession: _Oh god, it's an earthquake_, and: _Oh god, this is the worst possible place we could be right now_. Frantically, she turns and tries to get to Jeff, as the floor starts trembling violently and objects start to fall off the higher shelves. She's never heard anything this loud in her entire life.

She shields her head with her arms and pushes forward, staggering as things crash into her. She's almost at Jeff, just a little bit more, he's right there, he's reaching out for her, he has her-

A shadow falls on Annie and her head snaps up.

_We're going to die._

She throws her arms into Jeff's chest, as hard as she can. Annie is pretty strong, but Jeff is stronger, and as she stumbles away from him, she has no idea if she pushed him hard enough. Her left foot catches and pain shoots through her leg while she falls, just as the grandfather clock smashes into the ground.

Right where they had been standing.

_JEFF!_

Annie scrambles to her feet, but her left ankle won't bear weight, and she falls immediately forward. Her stomach lands on the edge of a box, and knocks all the air out of her lungs. Panic grips her as she tries to breathe back in, and can't.

Just as Annie thinks it can't get worse, she hears an unmistakable creak, somehow loud even over the roaring din. She forces herself as low to the ground as possible just as boxes pour over her.

Then there's the deafening crack of rolling thunder as the shelves collapse like dominoes.

And then there's only darkness.

And then stillness.

And then silence.

Annie tries to suck in a breath. Her lungs scream at her in protest. She pushes what little air she had back out, and tries again. She makes a horrible wheezing sound, and can't seem to get enough. She has to get out, she has to get air.

"Annie?"

She opens her mouth and yells, but nothing comes out. She thrashes against the boxes covering her, but they don't budge. She can't move, she can't talk, all she can do is make that wheezing sound.

And she still can't breathe.

_I'm going to die. I'm suffocating, and trapped, and Jeff's going to find me, dead._

"Annie!"

His voice seems closer now.

And then she can feel boxes start to shift in front of her, and a more rational thought creeps in:_ I'm having a panic attack._

A hand suddenly finds hers and grips tightly. She squeezes back, still unable to talk. He pulls her slowly out of the debris, and she almost cries with relief when she finally sees him. She collapses into him, exhausted, and still struggling to get in enough air. Despite everything, Annie allows herself a moment to revel in the comfort of being surrounded by Jeff.

"It's okay," he gasps, and she almost believes him. "You just have to breathe. We're okay."

At first she's not sure what he's up to when he moves them, but she's glad one of them is thinking ahead. When the aftershock hits, Annie still can't breathe properly. It's dark, and loud, and the whole world is shaking violently. The only thing keeping her sane is the fast but steady beating of Jeff's heart, right next to her ear. She forces herself to focus on that, and that alone. She starts counting the beats, trying to time her own labored breathing with his to stop the panic from taking over completely.

The room stops shaking.

Annie does not.

Jeff is still clutching her tightly, and she's scared to move or talk, like it's an avalanche and anything she does might trigger another one. She blinks rapidly as her eyes adjust to their hiding space, faintly lit by the glow of Jeff's phone.

"You okay?" Jeff asks her, his voice hoarse, his breathing heavy.

Still fighting for control of her lungs, she can't find the words to answer.

He takes her head in his hands and tilts it up so he can look at her. His eyes are filled with such fear and concern that she feels a pang of guilt for worrying him. "Hey, you okay?" he asks again.

She nods as tears start to well. He doesn't look convinced, and she realizes she has to tell him why she can't breathe, as embarrassed as she is. "Panic... attack..." she manages to say between gasps.

He sighs, relieved, and hugs her back to his chest.

Neither of them say anything for a minute while Annie slowly gains control of herself. As her breathing steadies, she starts to notice other things. Her ankle, in particular, is absolutely throbbing. "Are you okay?" she asks, muffled by his shirt.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just glad you're okay, I thought you'd collapsed a lung or something."

She winces. "I'm sorry."

Jeff gives her a gentle squeeze. "Oh god, don't be sorry. Are you sure that's it? Nothing's broken?"

"I don't know, my ankle hurts."

"Can you move it?"

Annie tries, but it's difficult in their cramped position. "I don't know, there's not much room in here, it's hard to tell."

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't get us better accommodations."

Annie can't stop a chuckle from escaping. "Yes, this is awful. How dare you save our lives."

"Me? Um, no, that distinction belongs to you. I didn't even see that clock. Did you see the size of that fucking thing? It was going to come straight down on my head, and if it had-"

Annie bolts up, almost hitting her head, and clamps a hand over his mouth. "Don't say it," she pleads, looking right into his eyes. She can't think about what might have happened.

He gently takes her hand in his, pulling it away from his mouth, but still holding on. "I won't. I'm sorry."

Their faces are only inches away from each other. Necessarily so, given their surroundings, but Annie can feel her heart pounding (and not out of panic this time). She desperately wants to lean in closer. But she's scared that she's misinterpreting the look on his face, or that they'll kiss, and it'll mean something - or even worse, that it's just adrenaline and it'll mean nothing. She should say something.

"Jeff-"

He presses his lips against hers, interrupting her.

After the initial shock wears off, Annie sinks into him, gripping his shirt in her hands. It's been a long time since they kissed (too long, in Annie's opinion), but he tastes exactly like she remembers. She inhales sharply through her nose as their lips part and their tongues meet and her entire body starts to buzz.

Jeff's left hand threads through her hair, which has messily fallen out of the bun she had earlier. She can feel him pulling her, even though there's as close as they can possibly be. He's kissing her desperately and deeply, hungrily exploring her mouth.

She shifts in his lap to get a better angle, and lets go of his shirt, running her hands up to his scruffy jaw instead. Goosebumps appear as he slides his right hand up her bare arm to her shoulder. Annie has a sudden, exhilarating thought that he is going to pull the straps off, but instead he wraps his arm behind her back, and clenches the material of her tank top in his fist.

Annie feels her entire body flush. Making out with Jeff makes her feel like nothing else, and makes her want to do things that she doesn't ever let herself think about. She lets the sensations wash over her: the softness of Jeff's lips compared to the roughness of his unshaven face, the feel and taste of his tongue, the pressure of his arms wrapped around her, the insistence of his hands, the warmth pouring off of them both.

She needs to get closer.

Annie shifts again, rubbing against something hard through his jeans. She's both surprised and delighted that she could have that effect on Jeff, so she moves again, grinding her hips into his lap.

"Mmmph", Jeff half sighs, half moans, and all of Annie's blood rushes between her legs.

"ANNIE? JEFF?"

They freeze, still entangled, breathing heavily into each other's mouths. Jeff pulls away from her slightly, closing his eyes and resting his head against the side of the desk drawer with a THUNK.

"ANNIE? COME ON, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?"

Jeff opens his eyes again and sighs heavily. Annie wants to say something, but has no idea what. Too much has happened in the last ten minutes for her to even begin to know where to start.

"JEFF? IF YOU GUYS ARE DEAD, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

They both let out a chuckle, and then Jeff sighs again before kissing her firmly on the forehead. Annie has no idea what that means, but finds it comforting nonetheless.

He shifts forward, slowly easing them out from under the desk into the darkened and destroyed room. Once they're out, he moves Annie off his lap, but keeps his arm around her. Then he yells back to Troy. "YEAH, WE'RE OKAY!"

"OKAY, YOU GUYS SUCK AT ANSWERING PEOPLE!"

"SORRY!"

Now free of the desk, Annie tries to wiggle her foot, and frowns when she can't.

Jeff's frowning with her. "Think you can walk on it?"

Annie tries to stand up, using Jeff's arm to steady herself. As soon as she bears weight, though, she shrieks and falls.

Jeff catches her and eases her to the ground. "Okay, never mind."

"OKAY, WHAT WAS THAT? I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE OKAY!"

Troy's voice is closer now, and they can see the faint beam of a flashlight.

"We're fine, we just need to get out of here!"

"NO PROBLEM! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Jeff sighs, exasperated. "I don't know, we're near a wall! I don't think we're far from the elevator!"

"GREAT, NOW... WHERE THE HELL AM I?"

"Keep going, I think I can see your flashlight!" Annie calls.

It takes a while for Troy to navigate the debris, but he finally finds them. "Wow, this place is destroyed. I'm glad you guys are okay, we were worried."

"Is everyone else all right?" Annie asks.

"We think Pierce might have a concussion, he's being way too normal for normal. The rest of us escaped with cuts and bruises, nothing serious. There's no power anywhere, and there's no cell service. Abed just left to drive Shirley home, she's freaking out about her family. Britta's watching Pierce."

Annie sighs, relieved that everyone is okay.

"Well, Annie's ankle might be broken, but otherwise we're okay. We should get out of here, though, before another aftershock hits," Jeff says. He turns to Annie, his left arm still around her. "Come on, I'll carry you."

"Umm... do you want me to?" Troy asks, shining the flashlight on Jeff. "Your wrist is looking kind of funky."

Jeff narrows his eyes at him. "No, I'm fine."

"Jeff, seriously-"

"I'm FINE."

There's a tense moment with Jeff and Troy staring each other down, until Troy relents and shrugs. "Whatever, it's your wrist."

Jeff pushes himself to his feet, then bends to pick up Annie. She tries, and fails, to get a look at his wrist. He doesn't seem to have any problem lifting her. She wraps her arms around his neck (for support, she tells herself), and suppresses a thought about how nice it is to be in his arms again.

Really, really nice.

**JEFF**

Following Troy up a staircase he didn't know existed, Jeff is desperately trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He's fine. Abed, Troy, Britta, Shirley, and Pierce are fine. Annie is... in his arms. And also fine. Her ankle might be broken, but that's fine. It's not going to kill her.

So why does he feel so nauseated?

He shakes his head, trying to clear it.

He shouldn't have kissed her. Is that what's bothering him? He knows he probably confused her, but in the moment, he honestly couldn't stop himself.

That bothers him too. What is it about Annie that makes him lose control? It's not fair to her. It's not fair that she worms her way through his carefully crafted armor, without even trying. A look from her, or a smile, or taking off her cardigan, and suddenly he has no idea what to say, or do, or think. He has a hard enough time keeping his impulses in check on a good day; having her pressed against him in his lap with their adrenaline running had been too much.

So he'd kissed her.

More than that, if he was being honest. He'd very nearly started stripping her then and there. It had been too long since they'd kissed last, and she was too goddamn important to him, and way too fucking sexy. He'd felt himself starting to get hard even before he'd kissed her, which was ridiculous. Then they were feverishly making out, and she'd moved in his lap, and he knew she would be able to feel it too. For a split second, he panicked that she'd be scared off.

But the little minx had ground herself against him instead.

And now she's in his arms again, and he can feel her the softness of her skin across the back of his neck. He steals a quick look down at her and there's a pained expression on her face. He reminds himself that her ankle is probably broken, and that broken bones are supposed to hurt.

_She's fine._

_Everything is fine._

He knows that.

So why does he feel so sick?

"Oh, thank GOD."

Britta's voice reluctantly pulls Jeff out of his thoughts. He's somehow made it to the den, where Britta and Pierce seem to have set up camp. There are a few flashlights around the room, bathing everything in a dim light. Jeff puts Annie gently down on the couch opposite them and then sits next to her, carefully lifting her legs to place them across his.

"Are you guys okay?" Britta asks.

Jeff nods, suddenly exhausted. Ignoring this weird, nagging, there's-something-wrong feeling is taking a lot of effort.

"We think Annie broke her ankle," Troy informs her. "And there's something seriously wrong with Jeff's wrist, but for some reason he gets mad when you say that."

Jeff sighs. "I told you, it's..." he holds up his right wrist. "Oh, shit."

It's red. And swollen. And there's a huge gash across the back of it. And he can't flex or extend it.

"Jeff!" Annie scolds him. "Why didn't you let Troy carry me?"

"Honestly? I didn't notice."

Britta raises her eyebrows at him. "You carried Annie up a flight of stairs with a broken wrist, and you didn't NOTICE?"

Jeff pinches the bridge of his nose, too tired to come up with a witty retort. "Apparently. I don't know, Britta, what do you want me to say?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe just that your ego couldn't handle letting Troy looking like a hero?"

Pierce puts a hand on Britta's shoulder. "Okay, Dr. Phil, that's enough. Cut Jeffrey some slack. Everybody's alive, let's just be happy about that."

Pierce is only rarely the voice of reason, and it usually happens when there's something wrong with him. But he is right, Jeff realizes. Why can't he just appreciate the fact that they all survived? Why doesn't he feel relieved?

"We could have died," Annie says quietly.

Jeff looks at her, and a tightness grips his chest.

"I thought I was going to die twice," she continues.

"What happened?" Britta asks.

He fights the urge to beg her not to answer. He can't sit here and listen to this. The tightness in his chest gets worse, and he starts to feel dizzy.

Annie shakes her head, and Jeff can see tears in her eyes. "There was just... I mean, have you been down there? It's just row after row of heavy, blunt, and sharp objects, any one of them could have... And then the shelves, those things are like ten feet tall, and solid metal. When THEY started to fall..."

Annie trails off when she turns and looks at Jeff. Her eyes widen in alarm.

**ANNIE**

Jeff is white as a sheet, and his whole body is starting to shake. She leans closer to him, taking his uninjured hand in hers. "Jeff?"

He doesn't answer.

Her heart jumps into her throat. She shifts her whole body closer and reaches up for his cheek. "Jeff," she says, a little more insistently.

"What's going on?" Troy asks, his voice high.

Annie doesn't know. It looks almost like a panic attack, but that's not quite right. He's breathing, but she's never seen someone so pale, or shivering so violently. He's looking in her direction, but it's like he can't see her.

"Oh good, you guys are alive," Abed says.

Annie hadn't even notice him come in.

"Abed! There's something wrong with Jeff," Britta says with an edge of panic.

Abed takes one look at Jeff and says, "Hmm, it looks like he's going into shock."

Annie feels stupid for not realizing it earlier. Luckily, her first aid training doesn't fail her. "We need to keep him warm."

"I'll get a blanket," Abed says, and then disappears.

Annie no longer cares about what it might look like, or the fact that three of their friends are right there. She tucks herself under Jeff's left arm so that their bodies are touching, and rests her head against his chest. She can feel his heart racing. She reaches her hand down from his cheek and grips his shirt tightly, trying to make sure her own breathing is as deep as possible.

Abed returns quickly and spreads a blanket over them.

"Why don't you guys go find a couple of first aid kits?" Pierce suggests quietly. "Any of the bathrooms should have one."

Troy and Abed nod simultaneously. "We're on it," Abed says.

He turns to Britta. "We should get some water and towels and... ice and such, too."

Britta makes her sour face, but helps Pierce to his feet. As they leave the room, Annie makes eye contact with Pierce and silently thanks him.

Left alone, Annie pulls herself up onto Jeff's lap, recreating the position they were in earlier. She sits up and braces her hands on each of his cheeks. "Hey," she says. "Look at me."

His eyes flicker around, but then settle on hers, and she can actually see them dilate as they focus. He lets out a shuddering sigh. "Hey."

She smiles, doing her best to look reassuring. "Hi. You okay?"

He blinks at her, then clears his throat. "Yeah. I think so. I just, umm..." his voice is uneven. He clears his throat again. "At the time, I never really thought... I mean, it just kind of hit me."

"What happened?"

"Well, not just what happened, but what COULD have happened. That I could've..." he trails off.

Annie winces, and then slides off his lap so she can better settle back into his chest. "Died, I know."

"No," Jeff says. His left hand wraps around the back of her neck, and he tilts her head up toward his. "That's not what I was going to say."

"Oh," Annie says, confused.

Jeff exhales slowly, still shivering. "I was going to say, it just hit me that I could have-"

"So everyone at Shirley's was okay?" Troy asks Abed loudly outside of the den.

_Dammit, again? We have the worst timing ever._ Jeff releases her head and she looks back down, readjusting the blanket over them. She refuses to move from his side, though.

"Yep, even baby Ben," Abed says as they come through the door. "It's not that bad outside, considering how strong the earthquake was. The radio was urging people with non-life threatening injuries to avoid flooding the hospitals though." He walks over to the couch and starts unloading supplies from one of the first aid kits. "How's he doing?"

"I'm fine," Jeff says impatiently.

Britta and Pierce also return, their arms full.

The four of them chat as Annie gets to work treating Jeff's wrist. She wishes she and Jeff were still alone, but everyone seems to have accepted their closeness, and nobody draws attention to it. She cleans off and inspects the cut, glad to see that it's not too deep. His wrist is starting to turn all sorts of weird shades of purple and black though, which concerns her. She applies some disinfectant, and apologizes when he inhales sharply at the pain.

Jeff is very quiet, but he does slowly get some color back in his face, and his body relaxes a tiny bit.

Finished cleaning and bandaging the cut, she carefully inspects the rest of it and sighs. "Can you move your fingers?" she whispers to him.

Jeff very, very slowly curls and uncurls his fingers.

Well that's good, at least. She leans over the edge of the couch and looks into the first aid box. "We need something for a splint."

"Ooh, I'll go find one!" Troy announces.

"We need two!" Jeff yells after him.

Annie leans back against Jeff again to wait for Troy. He's still shivering a bit, but it's much better than it was. Then his left hand reaches up and his fingers run lightly through her hair, playing with it absently. It's such a little thing, but it's so comforting that Annie forgets about Pierce, and Britta, and Abed. She forgets about Troy and Shirley and baby Ben. She forgets about the throbbing in her ankle.

All she can think about is Jeff.

...and wonder what the hell he was going to say.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Aftershocks**

**JEFF**

_I could have lost you._

Jeff is only half aware of Annie tending to his battered wrist. He honestly hadn't considered that either of them could have died. Not even when he'd started to say it out loud about himself earlier. But it's not the thought that HE could have died that's relentlessly echoing through his mind.

_I could have lost her._

_I could have lost her._

_And then she'd be gone._

_She wouldn't be here right now, fixing me up._

_She wouldn't be here._

_Ever again._

"Guhh," Jeff groans softly, feeling sick again.

Annie looks up from his wrist and gives him a tiny, reassuring smile.

_Okay, this is ridiculous. It doesn't matter what could have happened. Because she is here. Everything's fine. Stop it, Winger._

It works for a minute, as Jeff forces himself to focus on what Annie's doing. She's trying out the different things Troy brought to work as a splint, finding one the right size. She finally finds one that is apparently suitable, and then wraps it in gauze to make it more comfortable for him. She gently presses his wrist into the right position, and then starts wrapping a tensor bandage around the whole thing. A stern look of concentration is on her face.

_She's fine. Everything is fine._ "You'd make a good nurse," he tells her quietly.

Annie is busy meticulously wrapping, so she doesn't look up. But he can see her smile. "You'd be a pain in the ass as a patient."

Jeff can't help but smile too. "Hey," he protests, "I'm being very cooperative."

"Yeah, once you actually noticed there was something wrong."

"Well, you can't hold me accountable for something I didn't even know about."

"I guess not." She takes her time finishing setting his wrist and then looks up at him proudly. "How's that?"

He holds her gaze for a second. _Everything is fine._ "It's good."

Annie looks back down, inspecting her work.

_I could have lost her..._

The thought intrudes, unbidden. Frustrated, Jeff tries to push it away. "What about your ankle?"

She looks up at him like she'd forgotten. "Oh yeah. I can do it, but I have to... umm..." Annie trails off, and blushes.

"You have to what?"

"Just... take off my stockings."

This time, Jeff can feel himself flush, and hopes that Annie doesn't notice. "Right, well... just take them off," he says, trying to make it sound like no big deal. "We're under a big blanket, nobody can see."

Annie's eyes widen slightly, and then she looks around the room. "Um, no, no they can't."

Jeff looks up and is surprised to see it empty. They even closed the door behind them when they left. "Huh," he says. "When the hell did that happen?"

Annie shakes her head. "I have no idea, I wasn't paying attention to them."

She turns back to him, and catches his eyes with hers. Hers are somehow bright, even in the muted glow of the flashlights, and he can't look away.

She clears her throat. "I should really wrap my ankle."

"Yeah, umm..." Jeff swallows. "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," Annie says with a smile.

_I could have lost you._

Jeff suddenly sits up a bit straighter, and stretches his arms across the back of the couch. "You should, um..."

"Right!" Annie exclaims as she shifts, a little awkwardly, and seems to take a deep breath.

Jeff can already hear his blood pumping in his ears. He closes his eyes, determined not to get any ideas because of this. Just because Annie is practically in his lap, and that she is currently, right at this moment, sliding her hands up her skirt to remove a piece of clothing. DEFINITELY not getting any ideas...

He can feel her weight shift as she lifts up her hips to slide the stockings down, and he has to squeeze his eyes shut to keep them closed.

Her shoes hit the floor with a dull thud. Then he can feel her hands brushing against his lap as she pulls the stockings over her knees and down to her ankles. Jeff starts to feel warm.

"Is it okay if I take the blanket off for a minute?" she asks him.

He nods, unable to find words. He doesn't know exactly what she's doing, but he can imagine.

He imagines her carefully fitting a splint, and expertly wrapping a bandage around it. He can see her eyes narrowed and her mouth set in a hard line, focusing intently.

After a minute, Annie inhales sharply, and he can see the pain on her face.

Then he sees the absolute panic on her face as he pulled her out from under the fallen shelf.

Then he hears her scream, and his eyes snap open.

Annie is bent at the waist, reaching down to her foot.

She's fine, of course. His eyes flicker down past her neck. Her tank top is low cut enough that, from his angle, he has a clear view of her amazing cleavage. She's putting what appears to be the finishing touches on her wrapping, leaning right over her now-bare, silky white legs. He feels himself grow hard again.

Annie turns to him, catching him staring (again). Her giant blue eyes are full of a mix of apprehension and what Jeff hopes is excitement. He swallows and then nods toward her foot. "You done?"

She nods, and then smiles, and Jeff can no longer keep his hands on the back of the couch.

His left grasps her hair, and his right finds the creamy skin of her leg, as he pulls her insistently into a kiss. Relief washes over Jeff when their lips touch, and a contented hum escapes as she presses into him and deepens their kiss. She wraps her arms around his neck, and then catches his bottom lip between her teeth.

He lets go of her hair long enough to grab underneath her (holy shit AMAZING) ass, and then he lifts her back up right where he needs her. This time he's not worried about scaring her off, and his heart skips a beat when she settles onto his lap, and moans into his mouth. A shiver runs down his spine.

Jeff's battered fingers slowly slide up her skin, brushing against the hemline of her skirt. He keeps moving them, very slowly, wanting to judge Annie's reaction, and give her a chance to stop him. As much as he's running on instinct, he can't rush her. But every time his fingers creep another inch, Annie's lips hum against his, and her nails dig into him a little bit more, so he keeps going, his heart beating faster and faster.

He's not at all prepared for what he finds underneath her skirt: nothing.

He breaks their kiss and stares at her in disbelief. "Holy shit, Annie. When the hell did that happen?"

Annie tries to give a neutral shrug, but she looks embarrassed. "I took them off with my stockings."

Jeff can't believe his dumb luck: his good luck that a woman as incredible as Annie spontaneously decided to remove her panties for him, and his bad luck that he doesn't have full use of both of his hands.

Suddenly he realizes another bit of bad luck: he doesn't have a condom.

"You okay?" Annie asks him, concern mixing with her embarrassment.

"Y-yeah," he stutters. "My brain just shorted out for a second there." He closes his eyes. "And... I don't have a condom, which is fitting, really, because there's no way I deserve this."

Annie doesn't say anything, and Jeff cautiously opens one eye. She's smirking at him.

"What?" he asks.

Annie reaches into her tank top, and pulls something out.

Jeff thinks it's a condom at first, but it's not the right shape, and it's too big. Then it hits him. "You're on the pill?"

Her smirks turns into wide grin.

He can feel his smile grow to match hers, his eyes drifting back to her impressive chest. "What else you got in there?"

Annie laughs - a sound that warms him right to his core. Then he's back to staring like an idiot as she slowly removes her tank top, and then unhooks the front clasp of her bra.

Her breasts are even more perky, and more round, and more amazing than he could ever have imagined. And he had imagined them. His pants are now painfully tight. Refusing to waste any more time, he drops his head and takes her right nipple in his mouth, savoring the way it hardens as he circles his tongue around it.

Annie moans and bucks her hips, forcing his bandaged hand further between her thighs. Desperate to hear that moan again, Jeff reaches down and explores her with his fingers until he feels the wetness spilling out of her.

He has never been this turned on in his entire life. He moves his fingers, a little faster now, and easily finds her entrance. Annie gasps as he pushes two of them inside her, and he can't stop his own groan from escaping.

Jeff switches to give attention to Annie's other breast, and he pulls his fingers out slowly before pumping them back in.

"Jeff," Annie gasps. "Don't."

He releases her nipple and looks up at her in alarm.

She smiles at him. "You're going to hurt your hand."

He shakes his head and pumps them into her again, loving the way it makes her breath catch. "I don't care."

Annie reaches down and gently removes his hand, which disappoints him ever so slightly. But then she actually takes his fingers, and wraps her lips around them, sucking them clean as she slides them back out. "But I do," she says.

Jeff gives up what little control he had left. He kisses her deeply, desperately, and only breaks away to let her pull his sweater and t-shirt over his head. He gropes for the fly on his jeans until Annie takes over and frantically undoes his belt, the button and the zipper. As he reaches down and clumsily removes his shoes and socks, he curses his swollen and fumbling right hand. But he instantly forgets about it when he sits back up and Annie pulls off her skirt. She carefully draws her injured leg to the other side of his lap, straddling him. Then she grabs the top of his pants and underwear and raises herself up on her knees. He lifts his hips so she can pull off and discard them, and his cock is absolutely throbbing when they settle back down again.

Annie doesn't seem to want to waste any time, either, much to his relief. She takes him in hand, and, kissing him deeply, guides him in.

Jeff's mind explodes. She lowers herself, achingly slowly, down his entire length, until she's surrounding him completely. Being inside Annie, sheathed entirely in her impossibly tight, warm, wet, soft walls, is the greatest thing he has ever experienced. "Guuuuhhhhh," he breathes out.

She moans in agreement, and then experimentally raises herself a couple of inches before pushing herself slowly back down again.

Jeff has never felt anything so good in his entire life, but he's vaguely aware that it might not be the same for Annie yet. He uses his good hand to reach up for her cheek. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

She runs her hands down his chest, making him shiver. "We just have to take it slow. You're ridiculously huge."

Jeff's cock twitches inside her, and he blushes slightly at the compliment, making for an odd combination of feelings. "Annie, you can literally do anything you want to me right now, and I'll be okay with it. I just want this to feel as amazing for you as it does for me."

Annie's expression softens, and she seems to be touched by what he said.

He fucking meant it.

And to show her how much he meant it, he braces his bad hand on the small of her back, and then uses his good thumb to find her clit.

Annie arches her back and gasps, and Jeff can't help but think that he couldn't stand her ever making that face for someone else. He works her pulsing clit in slow circles, as she sets up an agonizing pace, slowly sliding up and down all nine inches of him, her nails raking across his chest. At first he can still see some discomfort mixed in with her lust, but as she gets used to his size, it melts into a look of pure pleasure.

Jeff keeps firmly stroking her clit, mesmerized by darkness in her eyes as they look straight into him. He rubs a little bit harder, and her eyelids flutter, her nails dig into him, and she moans his name. He involuntarily returns the favor as he sits up, needing to be as close to her as possible. He presses his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking and flicking his tongue before moving down to do the same to her collar bone.

Before long, her hands move to his shoulders, and she pushes him back to gain some leverage as she starts to pump faster. Then her beautiful tits are bouncing right in front of his face, and every time he bottoms out in her, she moans louder, her pitch getting steadily higher each time. Each new mewling cry that comes out of her is, somehow, impossibly, the most beautiful sound Jeff has ever heard.

"Jesus CHRIST, Annie," Jeff gasps as his eyes roll back in his head. The sight of her unabashedly fucking herself on his cock is almost too much to bear. He can feel himself getting close already, and he can't let it end so soon. So he grabs onto her hips with both hands and forces her still.

She whimpers and he opens his eyes, smirking at her pouting face.

He leans forward to whisper in her ear. "That's not taking it slow."

Annie grins wickedly while she pushes him back again. He looks at her curiously as she takes two of her own fingers and seductively slides them in and out of her mouth. Then his jaw drops open when she runs her fingers between her breasts, down her stomach, and then right to her clit, picking up where he left off.

Jeff's fingers dig into her hips.

Annie is moaning softly and panting as she rubs her tender nerves, and Jeff can only watch, completely awestruck. He has no idea how many women he's slept with, he never counted, but he knows it's a lot.

And he has never seen anything as hot as this.

Her lips are pink and luscious and swollen, slightly parted. Her cheeks are flushed and her whole body seems to be glowing. Jeff can feel the heat radiating off of her skin.

Annie moves, ever so slightly, almost unconsciously, and Jeff groans when he realizes just how fucking close he still is. He tries to force his thoughts away from the stunning sight on top of him.

_Okay, baseball... baseball, baseball, baseball..._

Annie drops her other hand to her leg, and begins to drag it slowly up her milky skin.

_Oh, shit... NO, baseball!_

Her fingers brush past his, still digging into to her hip, and continue to glide up her stomach.

_Jesus, fuck..._

Then she caresses her breast, and twists her nipple between her thumb and index finger. Annie gasps and lifts herself off of him completely before plunging back down again.

Jeff is pushed over the edge.

He braces his good hand on the couch and starts thrusting wildly into her, grabbing her hair with his other hand and forcing her lips onto his. She cries his name into his mouth and he can feel her clenching around him, pushing him to the brink.

"Oh... God... Jeff... I'm... aaaaaaahhhhhhh!" she screams as she comes, hard.

One more thrust and Jeff is right behind her, loudly moaning her name as the most intense orgasm he's ever had crashes through him. He can feel himself spilling inside of her as he fucks her, her body shuddering and convulsing as she rides him, their lips touching the entire time.

Finally spent, they collapse back into the couch, and Jeff wraps his arms around her, holding her to him. He listens to Annie's breath, heavy and quick in his ear, and watches the way his own panting is sending up tufts of her hair.

He knows he should let go, because he's still inside of her, and they should clean themselves up.

_I could have lost you._

Jeff tightens his grip.

**ANNIE**

Annie can feel Jeff's hot breath on her neck, her hair tickling her as it moves. She's breathing hard from the aftershocks of her orgasm, grateful for the warmth of Jeff's (oh my god AMAZING) body against her. She has no idea what's supposed to happen now; up until this point she was running on impulse. But Jeff's arms are wrapped tightly around her back, so she lets herself bask in the feeling of being this close to him.

Having Jeff inside her is the most intense thing Annie has ever experienced. It did hurt a bit at first, only because of her inexperience and their difference in size. She had honestly meant to take it slow, but once she got going, she couldn't help herself. Annie had worried at first that she'd do something wrong, or that she didn't know what she was doing, and it would be bad for Jeff. But the look on his face, and the way he kept saying her name... watching Jeff come inside of her might be her new favorite thing.

Annie shudders at the memory, and Jeff gives her a squeeze.

"Lost you," he breathes out.

Annie furrows her eyebrows, confused. "What?"

"That's what I was going to say."

She braces her hands against his bare chest so that she can lean back enough to look at him. "What?"

Jeff takes a deep breath. "I panicked earlier because it hit me that I could have lost you."

Annie's stomach does an excited flip, but she doesn't want to jump to conclusions about what he might mean. She smiles and tries to keep an even tone in her voice. "You didn't, though... I mean, you're still in me right now."

"Oh, I know, it's just..." he trails off and sighs. "I'm not good at this part, Annie."

"What part?"

"The talking part."

Annie doesn't mean to, but she laughs. "You, Jeff Winger, are trying to sit here and tell me you're not good at talking?"

He shakes his head seriously. "Not when it matters, no."

His sudden seriousness worries Annie. There's something he wants to say that he's not. Not ten seconds earlier Annie had been fairly confident that Jeff wanted to be with her. Now doubt is stabbing at her, and she starts to shiver. Maybe sleeping with her was just on his bucket list. Feeling extremely naked (which she is) and vulnerable, she decides to head Jeff off. "You can just say it, Jeff, if this was a mistake, if it was just the adrenaline-"

"What? No!" Jeff exclaims. "Dammit, I'm so sorry, Annie, I didn't mean for you to think..."

She relaxes a tiny bit, but is still looking at him warily.

He laughs dryly. "See? I suck at this." He sighs. "Let's clean ourselves up, at least, you're cold." His eyes drop down to her chest. "And distracting."

Annie allows a small smile, but she feels strangely empty when she slowly extracts herself off of Jeff. He sets her down on the couch beside him, and then cleans them both up with a nearby hand towel and a basin of water.

Annie is tense; she has no earthly clue what Jeff is thinking, and his expression isn't giving it away. He silently puts his boxer-briefs and his pants back on, and his t-shirt. He finds Annie's bra, panties, tank top, and skirt, and hands them to her. She starts to get a sinking feeling as she dresses, but when she's finished, he holds out his sweater for her so she can slip into it.

Then he pulls her into the exact same position they were in before this started: Annie sitting sideways on the couch, her legs slung over his lap, her body tucked against him under his arm, her head nuzzling into his chest, his fingers stroking through her hair.

"How's your ankle?" he asks her.

"Sore, but okay. How's your wrist?"

He holds it up and flexes and extends his fingers, a pained expression on his face. "Fucking hurts," he says.

Annie sighs. "I told you."

"Yeah, but I still don't care, it was absolutely worth it."

She frowns, unable to figure Jeff out. "So you don't think it was a mistake, then."

Jeff exhales and kisses the top of her head, pressing his lips down and keeping them there. "No, Annie, it wasn't a mistake."

"But...?"

"But... I'm a pretty screwed up person. I'm not good at dealing with emotions, and today has brought up... well... a lot of them. So I'm sorry if I've been confusing," he says quietly, his voice mumbled a bit in her hair.

Annie closes her eyes and gives him a gentle squeeze. "It's okay, I can understand that."

He sighs. "I'm just... ugh... afraid, I think."

"Afraid of what?"

"Lots of things. I'm afraid of being like my father. I'm afraid of becoming Pierce. Despite both of those things, I'm afraid of committment." Jeff laughs suddenly. "And I'm deathly afraid of you, Annie Edison."

Annie sits up and looks at him, her heart pounding. "What?" she says with a bit of a squeak. "What do you mean?"

He looks her right in the eye. "You terrify me."

_What the hell is he talking about?_ She shakes her head. "I don't..."

"You terrify me because being with you makes me not want to be with anyone else. And THAT terrifies me because... there are just so many reasons we shouldn't do this, not the least of which is that I'm not good enough for you." The words tumble out of him, rushed and a little frantic. He breaks their eye contact and looks down.

Annie stares at him while her brain works through what he said. She has her own confusing mix of feelings bubbling, fighting for dominance. She feels drained, and relieved, and excited, and worried, and frustrated, and overwhelmed. Pushing through all of that is anger. She's not going to let him push her away just because he's scared. She knows better than to let fear be in control. "So... you'll just have to suck it up, then," she says finally.

His head snaps back up. He looks bewildered. "Wait... what?"

She rolls her eyes. "Relationships are complicated, committment issues, blah blah blah. You just said that being with me makes you not want to be with anyone else. Which means you DO want to be with me." Her tone is confident, but her heart is still beating rapidly.

Jeff stares at her in disbelief, his mouth opening and closing a few times without making any sound.

"So you're going to have to get over it. Because I want to be with you, and I get to decide what's good for me, not you." Annie crosses her arms as way of metaphorically putting her foot down. But then anxiety creeps in on her anger, and she waits nervously for him to respond.

He doesn't right away, and her anger flares up again.

There's one more thing Annie needs to get out, so she closes her eyes and says it before she loses her nerve. "Besides, if you think you can fuck me like that and then never do it again, you're sorely mistaken, mister."

Jeff still doesn't say anything, so Annie sighs, exasperated, and opens her eyes. She's surprised to see him smiling at her affectionately.

"What?" she snaps.

He shrugs. "You're cute."

She glares at Jeff, purposely ignoring the warm feeling that those two little words evoke. "That's it?" she scoffs at him. "That's the response I get? What does that even-"

Annie is interrupted, again, by Jeff's lips suddenly pressing into hers. Her anger instantly melts away and she leans into him, opening her mouth and finding his tongue. The kiss is slow, and tender, and different from their earlier desperation to be close to each other. Jeff's injured right hand comes up and gently strokes Annie's cheek, and a chill runs down her spine. _Damn him._ She has no idea what to feel now.

After a minute, Jeff breaks away and rests his forehead against hers. "It means that I think you're cute. And... gorgeous. And smart, and fun, and... amazing... and, no, I had no intention of only doing that once, and... why are you crying?"

Tears are suddenly falling down Annie's cheeks, hard and fast and unbidden.

"Am I not saying the words I think I'm saying? Holy crap, I REALLY suck at this."

Annie laughs through her still-coming tears, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I'm not upset."

Jeff smirks. "Could've fooled me."

"Yeah, I know, it's just... a LOT has happened today, and I have no idea if sex is always that intense, but that was seriously intense, and then I was worried it wasn't going to mean anything to you, and then you're saying these things, and it's..." Annie breaks off her rambling, burying her face in her hands. All of her emotions have come boiling over at once, and she can't stop crying.

"Shh, it's okay," Jeff murmurs in her ear. "Come on."

He lifts up her legs and swings his own onto the couch, maneuvering them until they're both lying down on their sides. Jeff pulls Annie up against him, his left arm under her neck and wrapped around her shoulders, his right draped over her waist. She can feel him nuzzling the back of her head.

Annie takes a deep breath, and is filled with Jeff's scent. She basks in the warmth of their bodies presssed together. She can feel his heart beating, and feel his chest move in and out against her. Her tears slow, and then stop. Her breathing steadies, and deepens, and she can feel herself relaxing in a way that she never has before. She can't help but notice how perfectly her and Jeff fit together.

"You okay?" he whispers.

"Mmmm," she hums affirmatively. She's completely exhausted, and has never been so comfortable. Everything in her seems to quiet.

Before another thought can even enter her head, she falls asleep.

**JEFF**

Jeff can't sleep. He sighs into Annie's silky hair and closes his eyes, only to open them again a minute later. He's not sure what the problem is; he's comfortable and exhausted. And spooning with Annie is ridiculously relaxing. And feels good in an entirely different way than being inside her felt.

Annie fell asleep almost immediately after she calmed down. He feels a pang of guilt thinking about her crying, although he hopes it wasn't really his fault. It's been an overwhelming day. He just doesn't want her to cry, ever.

What the hell are they going to do now, though? They never actually talked about that. Go out on a date? Jeff scrunches up his face. It seems silly, considering that they've been friends for over two years and they've already had sex. Incredible, mind-blowing sex. Sex that he absolutely cannot wait to have again. And again. And again...

And what the hell are they going to tell everyone else? They must have known something was up, having left him and Annie alone without so much as a word. That's a far cry from being fine with it, though.

_And Shirley. Holy shit, Shirley is going to kill me._

He takes a deep breath, inhaling the flowery scent of Annie's shampoo.

_Oh well, at least I'll die a happy man._

**ANNIE**

Annie wakes up slowly, and thoroughly confused. All she can think about is Jeff, but she's not sure why until she forces her eyes open and looks down.

Memories from the previous night burst through all at once, and Annie swears she can feel the entire room lurch underneath her. She sucks in a breath.

Jeff's arms tighten around her. "You okay?" he mumbles sleepily into the back of her head.

"Yep," she lies, her strained voice probably giving her away. There was an earthquake, and they almost died, and then they had sex last night. She had sex with Jeff. Oh god, she was the one who'd started it! She'd taken off her panties for him, and touched herself in front of him. On the couch in Pierce's den. It's all so ludicrous she's filled with the irrational thought that it never actually happened. She must have dreamed it. There's no way it actually happened. Panic starts to creep in.

Jeff says something unintelligible, tugging gently on her side.

She absently follows his cue and squirms around so that she's lying on her back, desperately trying to control her breathing. Jeff's eyes are still closed and he brings up his bandaged right arm to lightly stroke down the side of her cheek, brushing through her hair.

Okay, so maybe it did happen. What had gotten into her? She feels like she was high last night; high on the moment, high adrenaline, high on Jeff... she was definitely high on Jeff. And now what are they going to do? What had they decided last night? Why the hell can't she remember?

Annie's blood starts pumping faster.

She remembers telling him to suck it up, and that she wanted to be with him, but then what?

She squeezes her eyes shut tight.

He told her she was cute, and some other really nice things. But oh god, she'd just started crying. Like a child. And then she'd fallen asleep, and... they never actually decided anything.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

_And now I'm freaking out, and he's going to realize just how much of a child I am._

Annie clears her throat and tries to keep her voice calm. "So, umm... any... regrets?"

Jeff's eyes open, and he pulls his left arm back a bit so he can prop himself up on his elbow. He leans over her, looks her right in the face, and rests his injured hand on her cheek. Annie feels like her heart is trying to jump out of her chest. "Just one," he says.

She swallows hard, bracing herself. "Yeah, what's that?"

"It didn't last NEARLY long enough," Jeff says, smiling.

Against all reason and explanation, she bursts into tears.

**JEFF**

_Oh, goddamn it, I made her cry again._

Annie has buried her face in her hands, trying to stop her tears, or... hide from him, or something, he's not sure. All he knows is that it physically pains him to see her like this.

"Annie..." he says, but then trails off, realizing he has no idea what to say. Because he doesn't really know why she's crying, and doesn't want to make it worse. But seriously, it hurts and he has to make it stop. "Annie, please don't cry. I swear I'm trying to say nice things here, and I just keep making you cry."

Annie groans through her hands. "I'm so sorry," she sobs. "You must think I'm insane."

He winces and rests his forehead gently against her hands. "Don't apologize, and I don't think you're insane. Just... tell me what's going on."

She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm just not... dealing with this very well."

"Dealing with what?"

"Jeff, every single moment of my life has been planned. Even when things spun out of control in high school, and I lost everything, I still had a plan. But then last night just... HAPPENED. I still can't even process it all, and I have no idea what the plan is, and that scares me, and I just keep waiting for you to tell me that this isn't going to work."

Jeff sighs, feeling incredibly guilty. He forgets sometimes that she's as young as she is. She had so much control over him last night that he forgot she's inexperienced, and sometimes insecure, and vulnerable. And that as hard as it's been for him to sort out his feelings, it's probably been ten times worse for Annie. He softly asks her to look at him.

Annie reluctantly complies, slowly pulling her hands away.

His heart wrenches to see the uncertainty and misery in her eyes. "Okay, now listen to me: I'm an asshole."

"Jeff, you're not..."

"No, seriously. I've just been saying the things I wanted to say instead of telling you the things you need to hear. Because... I'm an asshole. And a coward."

Annie sighs. "I'm so confused right now."

"Yeah, that's entirely my fault. And honestly? I don't know what the plan is either, which scares me too. But I do know that I will do absolutely whatever it takes to make you happy. So if you want me to fuck off and leave you alone for a while so you can think, I... well, it'll suck, but I will do it. I don't want to rush you, or push you into anything you're not ready for."

Annie still looks confused, but her tears have mostly stopped.

Jeff takes a deep breath. "But if you're ready, and willing to give me a chance, we can... figure this out."

She closes her eyes and exhales slowly.

"Look, either way, there are two things you need to know," he continues, speaking a little fast, needing to get this out, but for some reason nervous about it. "One is that even though I almost died yesterday and busted up my wrist, last night was the best night of my entire life."

Annie's eyes pop open. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

A tiny smile appears on her face, which eases Jeff's pain slightly. "So I guess it was good for you too, then?" she asks, a little shyly, but a little playfully.

"Good?" Jeff scoffs. "No, I can't say it was good. I can't even say it was great. Even saying that it was the best sex I've had doesn't cover it, Annie."

Annie chuckles, and her face brightens, and then Jeff is on a role.

"That was the best thing I've ever done. That was the proudest achievement of my life so far. That was the best sex that ANYONE has ever had, ever."

Annie is laughing now, burying her face in Jeff's bicep.

"I don't know why you're laughing, I'm completely serious about this," Jeff says, trying to keep a straight face, because he really did mean what he said. But it's hard not to smile with Annie wearing his sweater, wrapped in his arms, laughing while she clutches his shirt, because it feels so... right, there's still something else he has to say. He clears his throat and waits for a minute for Annie's giggles to quiet. "The second thing is... umm..." Jeff clears his throat again and lets out a small nervous laugh. _Why is this so hard?_

Annie smiles at him encouragingly.

He sighs and struggles to find the words he wants. "It's just... that I... don't want you to doubt how much it meant to me. I mean, I don't want you to doubt how much YOU mean to me."

The sentiment lingers, unfinished, but he doesn't know what else to say.

Annie looks thoughtful, but before she can say anything, there's a knock at the door. She closes the small gap between them and kisses him on the lips, quickly but tenderly, before sitting up and smoothing out her hair.

Jeff doesn't know what that means, but he still finds it comforting. He pushes himself up so that he's sitting next to her, and then she calls for whoever it is to come in.

Abed pokes his head through the door. "Hey guys. We're going to try the hospital, we're a little bit worried about Pierce. You should come and both get x-rays done."

"Yeah, that is a good idea," Jeff agrees. "Um, how are we getting there?"

"Pierce has a big SUV we'll fit in. Troy is just getting it out now. I'm afraid your car was kind of crushed by a tree branch, Jeff."

Jeff sighs, but, oddly enough, finds that he doesn't really care.

"Huh," Abed says, tilting his head. "I would've thought you'd be more upset about that."

"Yeah, me too..." he says absently, wondering if he's just reached his capacity on feeling things for the moment, or if, in the grand scheme of things, he really doesn't care whether his car survived.

"Well, we're meeting up out front. Here are your jackets," Abed says, tossing them through the door. "Be careful going through the house, there's a lot of broken glass around," and then his head disappears.

Annie places a hand on Jeff's arm. "I'm sorry about your car," she says.

He shrugs. "It doesn't matter." Then he sees her pills on the floor and grabs them for her.

"Oh, thanks." Annie reaches under Jeff's sweater to place them back where they were. "Do you want your sweater back?"

"Nope. Come on." Jeff stands up and extends a hand to Annie, who is shaking her head at him. "What?"

"You are NOT carrying me with that wrist," she says, crossing her arms.

He can't help but smirk. "Oh yeah? I'm twice your size, how are you going to stop me?"

She gives him a pleading look, which is already melting his resolve. "Because it's going to hurt you. And I don't want to see you in pain any more than you want to see me in pain."

Her voice is quiet, and sincere, and Jeff sighs heavily. "Okay, that... totally worked," he admits (and she smiles), "But you're still not walking on that thing. At least use my good arm as a crutch." He leans forward, smiles at her, and holds out his left arm. "Milady?"

For some reason this makes Annie blush (Jeff has no idea why, but his smile instantly grows wider) as she accepts his arm and pulls herself to her feet.

Standing face-to-face like this, Annie only comes up to his chest. He looks straight down and places a kiss on the top of her head. "You're so tiny."

"Pfft," she says, "I'm normal-sized, you're just a giant."

He messes up her hair, which makes her shriek in protest and lean away from him so she can fix it. Then she mock-glares at him as he gets them both into their jackets. Once ready, she hops to his side, her arms snaking around his good one for support. "Shall we?" he asks.

"Milord," she replies, gesturing to the door.

It's slow going at first, as Annie is reluctant to put her full weight on him. But with repeated assurances that he's fine, they make it through the house and out the door. The house isn't as badly damaged as Jeff thought it would be, and neither is the yard. The basement is still the worst he's seen, by a long shot.

Britta, Troy, and Pierce greet them outside, and they're acting pretty casual. They give him a few sideways glances, though, that make Jeff feel like he must be broadcasting what happened last night to everyone.

He helps Annie into a backseat and then climbs in next to her. The entire ride to the hospital, he has to fight the nagging urge to pull her up onto his lap, which is really a little irritating. She's sitting right next to him. Isn't that close enough?

At the hospital, Pierce is admitted quickly, with head injuries being a pretty big priority. After sitting next to each other in the waiting room for a while, Jeff very, very reluctantly agrees to part from Annie so they can both get their x-rays done. As he helps her into a wheelchair, he doesn't say anything, but he's anxious about being away from her. She smiles at him and gives his hand a squeeze. Then she's gone, being pushed down the hall by a porter.

As Jeff watches her go, he realizes, with a lingering sense of uneasiness, that it's the first time they've been out of physical contact since he pulled her from the rubble some sixteen hours ago.

He doesn't like it.

**ANNIE**

Britta finds Annie while she's having her cast applied. Annie tries to ask casually about Jeff, having not seen him or had any contact with him for a couple of hours. It seems like a lot longer, though.

But Britta smirks, and Annie knows she's not hiding anything. "He's all right, his wrist is pretty messed up, though. I don't know exactly what's wrong with it, something about... complex... something. He's having surgery on Friday."

Annie feels like she's been punched in the gut. She turns her head away, hoping Britta doesn't notice.

"He's going to be fine, Annie," Britta assures her. "It's just because it's his wrist, I think. Wrist bones are all small and weird-shaped, I saw his x-ray. They just can't set it properly from the outside."

Annie blinks away her tears. She really, really doesn't want to think about Jeff having to go through surgery.

Britta places a hand gently on her shoulder, but doesn't say anything for a minute. "How's the ankle?" she asks finally.

Annie clears her throat. "Um, it's okay. Small fracture, I'll have a plaster cast for a few weeks, then I might be able to switch to a walking one."

"That's good! Jeff will be glad to hear that, he's been worried."

Annie doesn't know how to respond to that, so she settles on asking, "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, Pierce got himself a private room, so we're hanging out in there. Shirley's even here, cell phone service is back up, so we were able to get a hold of her. As soon as you're ready, I'll take you to see him- them."

Yeah, Annie is really not hiding anything.

Her cast is finally finished, and a purple covering is placed over it. As soon as she's fitted with crutches, she and Britta make their way slowly through the hospital to Pierce's room. Annie is anxious to see Jeff, still not sure what to expect being around him, feeling equal parts excited and apprehensive.

Six chairs have been set up in a circle around Pierce's bed, and Jeff is sitting on the far side of the room, an empty one right next to his. He catches her eye as she comes through the door behind Britta, and if Annie's ankle wasn't broken, she'd probably run across the room to see him.

Jeff sits up in his chair, looking a little like he wants to stand. Annie's pretty sure his face must be a mirror of her own, full of anxiety and anticipation. She hobbles across the room toward him.

Then she's intercepted by Shirley pulling her into a hug. "Oh, An-nie, I was so worried about you!"

Annie clumsily returns the hug, her crutches being completely in the way. "I'm fine. Are your boys all okay?" She doesn't really listen to the answer, because can still see Jeff over Shirley's shoulder. He raises his eyebrows at her before looking pointedly down at her cast, asking: _you okay?_

Annie nods, and then manages to break away from Shirley, who hands her a muffin. This confuses Annie until she realizes it's been a while since they ate. She clutches it awkwardly and tries not to look like she's rushing as she makes her way over and sits in the empty chair next to Jeff. He leans toward her, his left elbow on the armrest, his chin in his hand.

"Hi," he says.

She smiles. "Hi."

He simply looks at her for a moment, a small smile spreading across his lips. Annie can feel honest-to-god butterflies in her stomach. Then she notices the newly-wrapped, custom-fitted splint on his right hand and she frowns.

"What?"

"I don't want you to have surgery."

He sits up and waves his left hand dismissively. "It's day surgery, I don't even have to be admitted overnight. It'll be fine."

Then he takes her hand in his.

"So, what actually happened to you guys yesterday?" Britta asks loudly.

Annie and Jeff are pulled from their own little world and back to reality. Everyone is staring at them.

Jeff clears his throat. "What do you mean?"

Britta rolls her eyes. "Come on, you guys said you could've died in the basement, we want to know the story."

Annie looks to Jeff, who is still holding her hand. He clears his throat again. "Um, well... Annie... saved my life. Both of our lives, probably."

Annie swallows hard, absolutely determined not to cry again.

Jeff squeezes her hand and takes a breath before continuing. "Um, Pierce, you know the big grandfather clock you had down there?"

Pierce thinks for a second. "Oh, yeah." Then he actually does a double take. "Yeah, what about it...?"

"It fell off of whatever it was sitting on, and... aimed right for my head. Annie pushed us out of the way."

Annie's whole body tenses at the memory.

"You mean the solid mahogany, 300-pound one full of glass and weights?"

Jeff nods.

Troy's eyes widen. "Holy crap, was that the thing on the ground next to where I found you guys? That DEFINITELY would have killed you."

Annie inhales sharply and Jeff scowls. "That's it, we're done talking about it, now you know."

The group sits in uncomfortable silence for a minute.

Jeff still looks kind of mad, but Annie traces her thumb along the back of his hand, and he seems to relax a bit.

Then Pierce claps his hand together, making everyone jump. "Right, we should be celebrating! It's ridiculous they don't allow alcohol in here. Terrible things COULD have happened, but they didn't, so we're all still here. And I don't say this often enough, but I love you guys."

"You know what?" Jeff says, his scowl gone now. "This is a sure sign that Pierce does have a head injury, but I agree with him. And I don't usually say it either, but... I love you guys too. Except for Annie, I'm in love with Annie."

He says it so nonchalantly that it takes a minute to register.

Annie thinks she must have just hallucinated.

"Hold on a second," Britta says, her eyes narrow. "Did we just all have a collective stroke, or did you just say that you're IN LOVE with Annie?"

"No, I said I'm in love with Annie."

_Oh crap, I just hallucinated again._

"That's not funny."

"That's because I'm not joking."

There's a stunned silence until Abed finally breaks it. "I told you something was going to happen last night," he says to Britta.

Shirley and Britta gasp.

"Jeff!"

"Jeffrey!"

"WHAT?" Jeff practically shouts. "I didn't say something happened, I said I'm in love with her."

_Okay, that's three times now._ Annie can't help but start to think that maybe she's NOT hallucinating, which means...

"So nothing happened then?" Britta asks accusingly.

Jeff presses his lips together. "Nothing that concerns any of you."

"They slept together," Abed says in his matter-of-fact way.

"JEFFREY!"

"JEFF!"

"Oh, Jeffrey how could you?" Shirley scolds him. "Taking advantage of a young girl in an emotionally compromised state-"

"Hey!" Jeff and Annie both protest at the same time.

"I'm not ACTUALLY a monster, Shirley."

"Yeah, and it was my decision, I'm not some naive, fragile little girl."

"Seriously, guys, leave Jeff alone and pay up," Troy says.

"Yeah," Jeff agrees. "Leave Jeff alone and- wait a minute." He narrows his eyes at Troy. "Pay up?"

Britta and Shirley grumble as they pull our their wallets.

Annie watches in astonishment as they start to pull out bills and hand them to the other boys, including Pierce, who are smiling triumphantly.

"You guys BET on us?" Annie asks, incredulous.

"Yep. Troy, Pierce, and I figured that something would happen, given what you guys went through and how you were acting around each other," Abed explains.

Jeff scoffs. "It was that obvious, was it?"

"Dude, you carried her upstairs on a broken wrist."

"You look at her the way I used to look at my first wife, and I actually had feelings for her."

"And you went into shock when you realized that Annie could have died. Yep, it was pretty obvious."

"Ugh, I should've listened to you, Troy," Britta complains sourly.

"Wait, so you guys aren't actually mad about this?"

"I'm mad that you cost me sixty dollars!" Britta snaps.

"Shirley?"

She shrugs. "I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but I understand."

"Jeffrey, we all know that you're a man-whore, and you don't deserve her," Pierce says with a tone of deep wisdom. "But Annie is strong. The likelihood is that she is going to trample your heart, and not the other way around. As long as Annie is happy, we're happy."

"Hey, doesn't anyone care about MY happiness?" Jeff asks with a smirk, and gets his answer in the form of two muffins, a banana, an apple, and a lighter being thrown at him.

Then, collectively, six heads turn toward Annie at once. She stares back at a sea of expectant faces until her eyes settle on Jeff's. She knows he said it three times, but she still has to ask. "You're in love with me?"

"That does sum it up nicely, yeah."

Annie scrunches up her face, desperately trying to stop what she knows is coming. "I, um..." she says, but despite her best efforts, she starts to cry.

"Come on, seriously? I really thought I had this one!" Jeff exclaims.

She laughs and scrambles over the armrest into his lap so that she can wrap her arms around his neck. He hugs her back and sighs. "You can have me instead," she says into his shoulder.

Everyone groans and Annie can feel another muffin or three hit her in the back.

"I love you too, by the way," she says.

He hugs her tighter. "Well, that's convenient."

Everyone groans louder, and there's a few more splats. At least their aim is getting worse.

"Get a room!" Britta grumbles.

Annie pulls back a bit and looks at Jeff, who is grinning at her.

"That's not a bad idea," he says, before swiftly standing up, supporting Annie around his waist with only his left hand.

She laughs as he carries her to the door. "Wait, my crutches!"

"Oh, we definitely don't need crutches any more."

He opens the door and stops just outside of it when Annie kisses him, so that he can kiss her back. The door swings closed behind them, forgotten.

That is, until, there's a series of dull THUD noises against it. Jeff breaks their kiss and makes a mock-serious face. "Don't worry," he says. "They will run out of muffins eventually."

Annie laughs.

**EPILOGUE (6 WEEKS LATER)**

Annie is sitting in her usual position in Jeff's bedroom on his lap, her Velcro cast tossed aside, her legs crossed behind his waist. Jeff is slowly running his hands (well, one hand, and one set of fingertips) up and down her back.

She is carefully stroking her fingers through his hair, until she stops, and squints, and then holds up a mirror for him. "How's that?"

Jeff checks out his reflection and smiles. "I think you're better at doing my hair than I was."

Annie rolls her eyes. "You know yours takes longer than mine, right?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that your hair is just naturally perfect. It takes time for me to look this good."

"Why, trying to get laid?"

"Always."

She swats at him and he smiles. Annie sighs. "We're late."

"Okay, that's totally your fault."

"What? How?"

"You came out of the bathroom naked and dripping wet, what was I supposed to do?"

"Hey, I forgot a towel!"

"Yeah right, 'forgot', who goes to shower without a towel?"

Before Annie can defend herself, Jeff's phone rings. She sees that it's Abed and answers it on speaker.

"Hey, are you guys coming over?"

"Yes, Abed, we were just about to leave. Blame Annie for us being late."

"Hey, blame Jeff and his hair! It takes me forever to do it."

"Well that will change this weekend, right?" Abed asks. "When Jeff gets his cast off, he'll have both hands back."

"Yeah," Jeff says, a little sadly.

"Yeah!" Annie says excitedly.

They look at each other for a second, confused.

"Why is that a bad thing?" Annie asks him.

Jeff shrugs. "Because... I kind of like having you around. And doing my hair. And I'm pretty sure Abed orchestrated this movie night just to get you to come home."

"I will neither confirm nor deny that," Abed says over the phone.

"Why is it a good thing?" Jeff asks her.

Annie blushes. "Because..." Then she leans forward so she can whisper softly in his ear. "Considering how hard you can make me come with only one hand, I can't wait to see what you can do with two."

Jeff coughs, choking on nothing. He'd been so wrapped up with the idea of Annie leaving that he'd actually forgotten about that. Then he realizes a wonderful solution to his problem. "Move in with me."

Annie's eyes widen. "What? Really?"

"Yes."

Annie grins, but then realizes that Abed is still on the phone. "Oh, but Troy and Abed..."

"Oh, just do it, we knew you were a lost cause six weeks ago," they can hear Troy say in the background.

"Okay!" Annie agrees giddily, attacking Jeff with a hug.

He grins and kisses her deeply, slowly pulling her with him as he scoots further onto the bed.

Annie grasps blindly for his phone, and the last thing she hears before her fingers hit "end", is:

"They're not coming over, are they?"


End file.
